Where Did The Year Go?

greetings readers!

so, i haven't written in a couple of months because i've been super busy working and writing like crazy and o-m-g... where did the year go? my birthday's around the corner and soon it will be 2011!

i must admit that 2010 has been a pretty awesome year for me. i had steady freelance work to keep me afloat (so grateful for that) and i finally moved into a 2 bedroom apartment for a (drumroll please) HOME OFFICE!!!! *sigh* my dream! i'm still organizing the room, so expect some great photos sometime soon. let's just say that my walls are two-toned and i'm surrounded by inspiration. it's actually part office/part craft room and i can't tell you how much more productive i am with an entire separate room to myself!

i'm also super excited to announce some of my upcoming projects but unfortunately, everything is still confidential at the moment so i can't say much. :-( i will tell you that one of my games (remember the cupcake post?) is finally coming out in january and i can't wait for players to sink their fangs teeth into it!

i've also been working pretty hard on my children's book manuscript which i hope to finish by the end of the year.

so... stay tuned. more announcements to come soon!

Blogging, Blogging, more blogging!

I've been a super busy bee lately freelancing for SafetyWeb, a startup based in Denver. It's great, worthwhile work because they specialize in helping parents keep their children safe online. If you're a parent, you should definitely check 'em out!

Since cyberbullying and cyberstalking have been making headlines all over the country lately, there's no shortage of topics to blog about. Plus, I'm really exercising my journalism skills... which makes it all the more fun. In fact, I was thrilled that Valerie Strauss of The Washington Post actually linked to my story about the upcoming Phoebe Prince trial in an Answer Sheet column! (Seriously... that was awwwwwesome).

SafetyWeb recently flew me out to Denver to meet their crew. Here are some pics of their office (albiet taken with my horrible BlackBerry camera):

Okay... that last pic is actually the Stanley Hotel (The Shining hotel) which, admittedly, was a highlight of my trip.

Anywho, you can read all of my SafetyWeb tips and blog posts at http://blog.safetyweb.com/. Look for anything by yours truly!

Oregon Trail Makes IGN's Top 25 List...Again!

i realize that i keep talking about video games. i DO write other things. :-) but well, video games have been making a lot of news lately!

for example, a game i wrote last year called Oregon Trail (published by Gameloft) was just named one of The Top 25 iPhone Games of the Year by IGN for the 2nd year in a row! if you haven't checked it out yet, download it on your iphone or ipod touch now! it's fun, it's quirky and well, i'm pretty proud of the funny dialogue in it...especially samuel morse's! (little known fact: i'm a daughter of a ham radio operator and was taught morse code around the same time i learned the alphabet).

here's a colorful screenshot for you to enjoy:

why, oh why?

video games and bad writing.

they seem to go together like a big funky, crunchy, uber cheezy bowl of mac & cheese, right?

well, a friendly coworker of mine came across this video from The Escapist and it pretty much sums up the issues i go through while writing games. in fact, if you're in the video game business, this video should be, like, required viewing... or something. :-)

...And Now For Something Completely Different...

in addition to all of my other writing, i've been freelancing for several months for an extremely worthy start-up company called SafetyWeb which is based in denver, colorado. safetyweb is all about protecting kids online. they offer a subscription service to parents and will monitor their child's online activities, provide resource articles and tips, and they even have an iphone app!



i write their daily blog which covers news stories and parenting tips. it's super interesting material and it's really exciting to be a part of a start-up company with so many amazing people. i'm also working on their website revamp and a bunch of other content currently in the works.

go ahead and check out the blog here and if you know any parents- pass it on!

Life is a Popularity Contest!

and that's the object of my latest video game: high school hook ups!

admittedly, this goes against a lot of my morals. :-) when i was in high school, i was most certainly an outcast and pretty proud of it too. i didn't care about befriending the cheerleaders or the jocks, but this game makes all of that plus more fun- i swear! you even get to go to prom! also- the art is so cool in this game by a talented artist...really different from some of gameloft's previous ones. check out a few screenshots:

you get to play a male or female and you'll meet all kinds of characters that you need to try to impress...including the mean principal. it's a branching dialogue game with a ton of choices for the player, so you really have the chance to direct the outcome of the game!




*sigh* i heart teen angst.

high school hook ups was just launched today and is currently only available on sprint. in the next few days/weeks, it should be available on every u.s. and european carrier! stay tuned...

Chuckles for Shrek!

one of the iPhone games that i completed writing recently got released! very exciting! it's called shrek forever after and yes, it's based on the film. ign apparently reviewed the game in may, but i just noticed it today! journalist/reviewer, levi buchanan, gave the game a 6 out of 10 mainly due to technical issues, but he made a point to say this:

"The writing in Shrek is also good; there are many chuckles in here."

and that right there, folks, made my day. :-) it's pretty rare for writing to be mentioned in a mobile game review-- so i'm pleased as punch!

you can read the entire review here, or pick up the game in the app store and try it out for yourself!

Iron Man 2 Makes Top 5 Games on iPad!

my very first iPad game and it made jkOnTheRun's top 5 list! woo-hoo!

admittedly, i wish the game was better received by the press, but i'm well aware of all the production problems we went through (both in pre and post) and i'm just extremely proud to see it sell so well.



For the full story, click here.

Iron Man 2 is the current #1 App on iTunes!

it's true!

take a look:


for the full article, click here.

New Footage of Iron Man 2 Gameplay!

marvel just posted a trailer on their website for the iphone/ipod touch/ipad game!


check it out here.

In Stark Contrast...

i can officially breathe a sigh of relief because i can now talk about the super huge confidential game that i was working on a few months back: iron man 2!

check out these screenshots from the iPhone version:


this was the first comic book tie-in game (tho' it was based more on the movie) that i've ever been a part of, but the development process wasn't unlike other licensed games. as the game's writer, i collaborated with a marvel team and together, we developed a kick-ass story. i worked on the game for both regular cell phones and iPhones (i hear a rumor it's coming to the iPad too), but the iPhone version is very cool, in my opinion. and in case you're wondering, i had nothing to do with the console version (that was sega).

believe it or not, we went back and forth with marvel for a few months about story alone. once that was nailed down, the designers could create the levels and gameplay, and i could start developing characters and writing dialogue. (unfortunately, i wasn't part of the voice-over process. although i have experience directing actors-- that whole recording session happened in an entirely different city).

the game is already available overseas and will become available in the u.s. the first week of may! be sure to check it out!

p.s.: i LOVE channeling robert downey jr.!

Just call me Avril!

so, i've been writing stories since i was a kid, screenplays too...and okay, now video games. but song lyrics? not quite. as an in-house game writer, however, you're sometimes asked to take on projects that may not necessarily be your cup of tea.

believe it or not, i've co-written original lyrics for songs in a few different video games, including American Popstar: Road to Celebrity (DSi) and Gangstar (iPhone). last week, i finished more song lyrics for an upcoming driving game. i'll talk more about that once it's released.

in the meantime, here's a verse or two from "Oh Mama," one of the songs i wrote for American Popstar. my direction? think "cry me a river" by justin timberlake...


Why were you
Holding back on me
About daddy?
You knew I had a dream
But you kept the reality
Away from me, oh.

Now you say
My goal is in my blood
Running through my veins.
You knew I had a dream.
Mama, you could make me scream.

Oh mama...oh mama...
Oh mama...oh mama...you are my family.

Bet you didn't think
This day would come
Smashing down, no.
But don't you realize
My love for you
Will never change, oh?

ok, i won't bore you with anymore. :-P hey, i never said it was shakespeare! you can hear the whole song in the game which is available on Nintendo's DSi.

The Best Video Game Stories Ever!

last spring, i was asked to teach a video game writing class at my undergraduate alma mater, american university in washington, d.c. unfortunately, enrollment for the class was too low and as such, it was canceled. :-( as i was preparing to teach, however, i came across a great article featured over at gamesradar about the best video game stories ever. any guesses?

Read the whole article here.

My Blog's New Look!

yay! checkie it out, peeps!

my blog is now a pretty darn good match to my website (www.tammyblythe.com). we're still tweaking the header a bit, and by "we" i really mean my expert designer!

a big shout-out to miriam dwinell of churn butter design who's busy at work helping me update my website, among other things. she's sweet as punch and has a great eye for all things design. i really can't say enough about her, so just check out her company and hire her! ;-)

http://www.churnbutterdesign.com/

Move over Cooking Mama!

let's get something straight. i am totally not a chef. i'm actually a pretty darn good baker, but that's as far as my skills go. which is why i admittedly cringed when i was assigned to write the first ever 3D cooking game called Pocket Chef. it's available now on the App store for the iPod and iPod touch.


unfortunately, there's no "host" in the game so i wasn't able to come up with all those funny cooking jokes that i've been saving up in my repertoire. instead, i was asked to clean up the tutorials quite a bit and write the recipes themselves. i didn't get to choose which recipes were used, but i did my best to keep them simple and sweet.

here's a trailer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IS4UplCgDYs

also, just got word from hq that they're running a contest! lucky entrants have the chance of winning an ipod touch and a pocket chef apron. details about it can be found here.

My Hero is Pissed!

let me explain.

my boss got a computer virus at work. he backs files up in a drive that we writers share. eventually, i got the computer virus. then, i spread it to half our office. this ridiculously annoying virus has plagued me for the past 2 weeks. our IT department has been working furiously to remove it and i've been moved to 2 different temporary computers since. one had no internet and no microsoft office. the 2nd had no internet and no sound...but eventually got both. mind you, most of my files were not backed up because guess what? our back up drive at work has been down for the past 3 months. somehow, through this entire mess, the IT department was blaming me for my issues or just making me feel guilty in general. in their defense, they've been very stressed by all the viruses going around. still, this insanity has made me lose my mind a few times at work which, frankly, is not like me at all. long story even longer-- that virus spread to my ipod and has now infected my personal computer too.

anyway, the point of this post is to explain how it's affected my work, not my mood. every writer is influenced by various things while they're writing and it's been a struggle to continue writing my VERY URGENT project when all my months of communication about the game were lost and my files were missing for 2 weeks.

the project is super uber confidential so i can't say much about it. what i will say is that it's based on a comic book and my comic book hero is pissed. he's angry at all the other characters (even his buddies) and as a result- he keeps yelling at people and trying to fight them. at the end of the day, i review the stuff i've been writing and laugh at how unbelievably bitter my so-called hero is. he has a massive chip on his metallic shoulder. and then, yes, i spend the last few hours of my day rewriting him so that he's not so angry at the world. after all, what does he have to be so angry about? he doesn't have a computer virus!

Website Linkage

at the moment, this blog is sorta blah. but stay tuned because soon it will be linked to my website! or rather, my website will be linked to this blog. whatever, you get the point. my website designer is going to help me match all the colors and stuff. yay for designers!

And On Another Note...

a friend recently sent me a job posting for a video game writing lead at a certain video game company that shall go unnamed. it seemed like a dream job, until i got to one line within the job description:

* Zero desire to parlay your game writing experience into a film, TV show, novel &c.

what a weird thing to include in a job description! i don't know a single writer that doesn't fantasize about other mediums...do you?

Not too tech shabby!

i occasionally dabble in technical writing on the side. i've worked with an award- winning technology company called aleratec for a few years now. they are famous for developing and manufacturing solutions for the USB, HDD, Blu-ray, DVD/CD duplicating, publishing, recording, and digital imaging markets and their cool gadgets pop up all the time in PC Magazine!

here's a demo of their most recent product. i wrote the voice-over script!

http://syndicate.sellpoint.net/Syndicate/AptViewer?play=QYL923-261051&ParentUrl=http%3A//www.aleratec.com/350107.html

The Game is Afoot!

i'm super excited because the video game i recently wrote got a great review! it's called sherlock holmes: the official movie game and it's available on your cell phone now. note: it's not on iphones (that's the warner bros. game).


Pocketgamer gave it an 8.0/10 and a Silver Award! Take a look!

http://www.pocketgamer.co.uk/r/Mobile/Sherlock+Holmes:+The+Official+Movie+Game/review.asp?c=17579

Welcome!

welcome, lovely readers!

right now, i'm procrastinating. and it's all related to a video game story for work. i can't say much, so i'll just give you a visual and you can try to figure out the rest.


cute cupakes, eh?

more coming soon!